What Is a Cabin?

This pencil drawing probably fits most common ideas of what a cabin is.

On my other blog, Cabinart.net, I have been writing occasionally about what makes a cabin. Of course you are invited to go there to read the posts, (Cabin Thoughts, Part 2, Part 3, Few More, Final) but I thought I’d refine the thoughts a bit directly for Wilsonia cabin folks. (Over there I post 5 days a week, as opposed to the weekly posts here.)

It began with a discussion with my friend (the one who taught me how to use InDesign so I could make The Cabins of Wilsonia) about what it is that makes a cabin. My art business is called “Cabin Art”, so one would think that I would know how to define the word “cabin”. Alas, one would be wrong about that!

We had an old dictionary at the cabin, so I looked up “cabin”. The 3rd definition said, “A small, rude hut”.

Clearly the word “rude” has changed in meaning since the dictionary was published in 1935. I looked up “rude” and saw “Poorly constructed”.

Alrighty, then. A cabin is a small, poorly constructed hut.

But is it?

Nothing small or poorly constructed here!

I’d love to hear your ideas about what a cabin is – email me at cabinart@cabinart.net or better yet, comment (use “Leave a Reply”) on this post so others can join in the discussion!

Place of Honor

A friend recently sent me this photo.

What a place of honor! Of course, it could have been just set up for a photo shoot, but still. . . this cabin looks to be the perfect combination of rusticity with elegance. And knowing my friend, I’m sure it is fabulous!

You too can have your own fancy looking book called The Cabins of Wilsonia. (But you’ll have to find your own table-top easel.)

Still Sitting Around

This cabin steps and chair look so inviting; I never saw anyone in residence there but did meet an owner at another cabin.

Something about a chair or bench on a porch is so inviting. One of the established but unwritten elements of cabin etiquette is that if someone is sitting on the deck, it is okay to stop and chat from the road. They can invite you up or not, but it is always good to exchange greetings as you pass by folks just sitting around.

This cabin belonged to some friends of my parents, but they were no longer around when I began work on the book.

A built-in bench? Why not, if it can handle a heavy snow year.

Kind Words

A few weeks ago, I received an order from someone I’ve never met for several copies of The Cabins of Wilsonia.

It is always good to know how people find the book, so I asked this customer. Here is what she said:

I had been reading about your book project for awhile in the Wilsonia Times newsletter. We hadn’t been able to get to the cabin for a few years, but we were finally able to go last week. Someone bought a copy of your book to keep at the cabin and that is where I read it, which was perfect.

I love the writing and the sketches are exquisite. I like how you combined sketches of cabins with architectural details and elements of the natural surroundings. It really captures the essence of Wilsonia. I ordered a copy for myself and some for my daughters and for friends who enjoy going up there with us. Thank you so much for taking on that project and executing it so beautifully.

Aw shucks. Thank you, Lisa! Thank you for appreciating the variety in the drawings, all the efforts I put into showing details and backgrounds and getting people to tell me about their cabin experiences. My goal was to “capture the essence of Wilsonia”, and it means a ton to me that the book does that for you!

More Chairs

But wait! There’s more. . . chairs, that is.

There are several reoccurring themes in the book, but we’ll continue to focus on chairs for awhile.

A blog reader might reach the conclusion that folks in Wilsonia just sit around.

Brings to mind something my weird old uncle said once: “I can only sit in one chair at a time”. Brilliant observation, Uncle!

Chair Obsession

Do I have an obsession with chairs? It is possible.

Have a look at some of my favorite pencil drawings from The Cabins of Wilsonia. (The reason I have to reannounce the title of the book is so that anyone asking The Google about it will have a better chance of locating it. Tech. . . sigh.)

There are plenty more, but now I want to show you the chair in my studio. It is a recent addition, so I feel quite happy about it. It is the blue one, and the first day I sat in it to do computer work, I fell asleep! (I am quite happy about the wooden one too, but it has been here since 2002 when I moved my studio into this little building.)

My young cats feel quite happy about it too.

Libraries and Connections

It has been almost four years since The Cabins of Wilsonia was published. This summer it occurred to me that the local libraries, both in Tulare and Fresno counties ought to have copies.

I called the Tulare Co. library not knowing who to speak with, and the one who returned my call was my old friend Carol from Redwood High School, class of ’77. We see each other occasionally, and it is great fun to have that old connection. She said to send a couple of books to the library so the review committee could decide if it would be beneficial. I was able to take them to the local branch and have the inter-library delivery service get them in the right hands.

Then. . . crickets. . .

Two months later I called Carol and asked her who to talk to. She sent me to Jonathan, someone I would have had no way of reaching through the library’s phone tree. (See? Who You Know always matters!)

Jonathan and I had a great conversation about cabins, cabin communities and Wilsonia. His next door neighbor in his hometown had a cabin in Wilsonia! He told me the man’s last name, and I sent him to page 117. He can’t remember if this was the cabin or not, but will ask his former neighbor when he sees him next.

We also discussed cabin leases, learned that we had both worked at Hartland Camp, and he told me of a book coming out soon about Big Creek, a Southern California Edison mountain community near Shaver Lake. I have several friends who grew up there, so I am interested in that book.

Stories, connections, things in common. . .

. . . and pretty soon, or maybe even by the date of this blog post, The Cabins of Wilsonia will be available through the Tulare County Library System.

P.S. I LOVE libraries and grew up with the Ivanhoe Library as my primary source of books. The first time I went into the Visalia Library, I was beyond thrilled!

Second-hand Encounter

During the months of July and August, I don’t give drawing lessons. I do stay in touch with my drawing students, because we almost always become friends and every one of them is dear to me.

One of my students emailed me over the summer to say he attended a wedding in Wilsonia! He then told me of the delightful folks that he met who said nice things about me and invited me to return. (Aw, shucks. . .)

I haven’t returned in body, but I am slowly returning in my heart.

This is the cabin where the wedding took place. During most of my time in Wilsonia while working on The Cabins of Wilsonia, this place was referred to as “the Plywood Palace” because it was under construction.

The reconstruction obviously was finished. It is now large, beautiful (shingle siding is my favorite), and must have been an excellent venue for a wedding.

Old Friends, New Cabin

This past spring, some people I have known my entire adult life bought a cabin in Wilsonia. They already are part of a shared family cabin, but those situations are rarely ideal for an expanding family.

These folks have been a large part of my family’s life for many years. The man was in my older sister’s wedding in 1979; the couple’s daughter roomed with my niece in Visalia for several years; the couple hosted my younger sister’s daughter’s wedding at a moment’s notice (the story is here); in 2016 we all went to Israel together (part of that story is here.)

You’ve probably heard me say many times that Tulare County is very small. Yeppers, it is.

The cabin my friends bought is directly across the street from the cabin where I spent most of my Wilsonia time. It is one that has generated a great deal of curiosity through the years. The new cabin owners have the ability to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, and this cabin was never a sow’s ear to begin with.

I expect it will be a real show piece, a traffic stopper, and a magnet for looky-loos, one of whom will be me.

A Mistake?

Back when I was spending regular time in Wilsonia working on The Cabins of Wilsonia, a Mrs. Cabin Owner said to me, “You made a mistake on our cabin.”

Oh? That was an interesting conversation opener! What was the “mistake”?

I had included a shutter that was leaning against her cabin. Since I work from photos, I draw what I see. It looked as if this is where the cabin owners stored their shutter on purpose, so that’s how I drew it.

When she told me that she didn’t like it that way, it was too late to change things because the book was on its way to press.

But I made the change anyway and then never got in touch to let her know. That was because I thought she’d be too annoyed that the shutter would appear in the book drawing, and doing a book was hard enough without having people be annoyed at me! (Yes, I am a chicken.)

After encountering her on the Mineral King Road, I remembered that conversation. So, I have rescanned it and done all the computer machinations to make the screen version look like the paper drawing. This version is actually closer to the look of pencil on paper, lighter than necessary for book printing purposes.

I wonder what she’d think of it now. . .

Laurel 2.2, 9×12″ original pencil drawing for “The Cabins of Wilsonia, unframed, $200 plus tax.